Digital Cash (DASH)

Digital Cash (DASH) Review – Crypto Coin Judge

Digital Cash or DASH is preferred by users to make instant, private payments online. It’s a value-focused cryptocurrency and offers an improved level of anonymity to the users. The coin comes with a low exchange rate and provides quick confirmation time. It uses PrivateSend technology that is written into it at the protocol level. Multiple transactions are merged into one master transaction which is signed by each sender before being broadcasted to the network.

This makes it extremely difficult to determine which input resulted in which output. Since it’s one transaction that everyone signs, it is not possible to determine with certainty which sender sent the payment to which recipient.

The coin introduced the concept of masternodes. Nodes become masternodes after meeting certain criteria in the network, that replace the centralized servers. The use of masternodes has allowed the developers to create a highly stable currency.

Brief history

Initially launched with the name of XCoin in January 2014, and then the name was changed to Darkcoin (DRK) the very next month, in February 2014. The coin creators then decided to rebrand it with a less shady-sounding DASH, and the name stuck this time. The developers decided to have privacy as the key feature of the coin; after all it was the primary characteristic for the creation of blockchain transactions.

Analysis of DASH coin

Problems it solves

Although the blockchain keeps the identity of users hidden, it’s still possible to get an idea of who is behind the Private Key because it is available in the public ledger, as is the case with Bitcoin. DASH creators worked to solve this issue with the DarkSend framework that bundles small transactions together and sends them as a packet, thus making it extremely difficult to identify a single sender or receiver. Moreover, Masternodes make the transactions random and rotational, thus ensuring the anonymity of the sender and receiver.

The coin developers also had energy efficiency in mind. Cryptocoin mining is a resource-intensive process and consumes lot of electrify during mining. In fact, a Futurism Magazine study found that Bitcoin mining costs for a year surpassed those of the 159 countries combined. On this front, DASH seemed to be ahead of its time. It uses X11 mining algorithm that allows the miners to mine this crypto coin on their personal computers nearly as efficiently as ASICs do.

This energy efficient mining has effectively overcome the Bitcoin’s mining issue and resulted in an increased transaction speed.

Innovative features of the DASH coin

The value of this cryptocoin lies in the monetary privacy and transaction efficiency that it offers to users.

It provides everyone the ability to propose projects directly to the network. Anything that can help this cryptocoin grow can be funded. This effectively means that the cryptocurrency funds its own adoption and growth, consensus is guaranteed and every participant is accountable to the network. Its network has grown to 4,100 masternodes since the coin’s launch three years ago. Quite unlike other coins such as DigiByte,Dogecoin, NEM, OmiseGo, DASH has one of the largest peer-to-peer networks in the world as of now. More nodes means that users can access the cryptocurrency from anywhere in the world, in a more secure way.

The coin performs very well on the medium to long-term timeframes. It gets its largest volume from Poloniex, Bittrex and Yobit.

DASH Mining process

The mining of this cryptocurrency requires searching for solutions to a cryptographically difficult problem. This way, the miner is able to secure blocks on the blockchain. DASH makes use of the X11 algorithm that a miner must solve to earn a coin. As a reward for their hard work, the miners are provided with the new currency token which they have created themselves.

The CPU of a normal computer at home can do the mining of cryptocurrency but GPU offers much better speed as it has multiple pipelines for predictable calculations that are commonly required to be done during the mining. X11 ASICs make CPU and GPU mining uneconomical as there is an increased difficulty of hashing due to an increased hash rate. This way, DASH mining becomes more secure against attacks by hackers.

DASH Wallets

Banks store balances on a private ledger, but cryptocurrencies are securely stored under a unique address on a distributed public ledger. This storage mechanism is known as a digital wallet where cryptocurrencies and cryptocoins are stored. The wallets can only be opened using a Private Key.

DASH Core Wallet, also sometimes called QT Wallet, as it uses the QT software framework, is the official wallet for safe transactions in DASH. The wallet comes with many useful features like:

InstantSend

PrivateSend

Masternode

Coin control and fee control

Wallet encryption

QR Code generation and address book

Governance

Masternode commands and voting

Automated backup

Debug console

To use this wallet, you will need to download the entire blockchain. It is currently compatible for use on Mac OS, Raspberry, Linux, and Windows. The newly-installed wallet takes some time to start up as it has to synchronize its copy of the blockchain with the network. Once this synchronization process is completed, the correct wallet balance will be displayed and you can use all its functionalities in full and with ease.

Other wallets supporting the cryptocoin storage and transactions include:

DASH Electrum wallet: It features powerful external servers to index the blockchain and safely secure the private keys on your PC.

Android and iOS mobile wallets: They allow you to send and receive cryptocoins through mobile devices. The wallets have a recovery seed that allows for quick recovery of funds in case your mobile device is stolen.

Hardware wallet: These allow for the secure storage of the keys on the devices and simple transactions through a web interface.

Paper wallet: These allow the user to generate, encrypt, and secure keys on a clean computer not connected to the internet.

Web wallets: These control the private keys on your behalf, and keep a balance for you.

In addition, third-party wallets offered by Exodus, Birkan and Jaxx can also be used for DASH transactions.

How to buy DASH

You can buy and sell this cryptocoin in many ways, as described below:

Exchanges: Exchanges offer the most popular and convenient way to trade cryptocurrencies. There are two broad categories of exchanges. These are:

Exchanges that accept national currencies or fiat currencies.

Exchanges that facilitate trading and investment in cryptocurrencies. These are also known as crypto exchanges.

We also have centralized and decentralized exchanges.

1 – Centralized exchanges are operated by a single company and regulated by the jurisdictions of the region where they operate.

2 – Decentralized exchanges typically have higher escrow requirements, as the traders deal in a peer-to-peer network, not with a trusted financial entity like the banks.

3 – Instant Exchanges: You don’t need to log in at instant exchanges to buy and sell altcoins. You may exchange other cryptocurrencies with DASH at these exchanges.

4 – Peer-to-Peer: Advance peer-to-peer service providers offer their services for a fee to ensure the transparency of transactions and prevent cheating between the two parties, who have never met. At other websites providing this service, you need to make an offer for the sale/purchase of DASH, and wait until someone contacts you.

ATM

There are numerous ATMS where you can exchange this cryptocoin for cash or make transactions by card.

DASH vs. Bitcoin

DASH developers have unleashed a new blockchain protocol to overcome the inherent weaknesses of the Bitcoin blockchain. It is the world’s first self-governed and self-funding blockchain protocol, allowing for instant payments through a network of incentivized Masternodes.

Here is how DASH scores over Bitcoin in some key aspects:

1 – Unlike Bitcoin, it features InstantSend and introduced Masternodes to incentivize the users. Masternode operators are incentivized with 45% reward for each block that is mined.

2 – While the Bitcoin’s block propagation takes around 10 minutes on average, which may stretch to upto an hour for large purchases, the InstantX Masternode feature allows DASH to complete the transaction within seconds.

3 – While pseudonymous transactions of Bitcoin can be traced to the original user, PrivateSend transactions by DASH offer full privacy to the users for their transactions.

4 – Unlike Bitcoin where contributions by developers are not incentivized and voluntary, DASH promoters are paid for their contribution.

5 – It has an efficient mechanism to solve technological and human problems that make the cryptocoin’s community a highly functional one.

6 – It has fewer fees when compared with Bitcoin.

DASH in the news

While the leading digital currencies including Bitcoin have recently dwindled in price, DASH has made massive gains. In mid-November 2017, it surged from $319 to $520 showing a boost of 60% within just a span of 12 hours. The developers have also started its scaling process, which will boost the block size to 2MB. So, the developers will not need separate channels to make payments, instead they will use these extra-large boxes for this purpose. The upgrade will result in the reduction of transaction fees and speed upgrades, the introduction of new wallets and security protection, among many others.

Price: At the time of writing, DASH was trading for 1,178.27 USD.

Future predictions

The experts have predicted a rise in DASH’s price and it may move up to $1950 in the next year, and may then further appreciate to $5100 in the next five years. It could be a profitable option for long-term investment of at least one year. A five-year investment could get you a return of around 345%. So, your current investment of $100 in this cryptocurrency may get you around $445 by the end of the year 2022.

DASH technical analysis

With investors discovering more uses for the currency, DASH achieved a $1 billion market cap in May 2017. Its growth rate too has remained outstanding, and the coin has shown remarkable appreciation in its price since inception. The growth has surpassed that of Ethereum in some aspects. Part of this sterling growth could be attributed to the shortage of DASH coins, as opposed to Ethereum which has an unlimited number of Ether coins. The coin is likely to see a further appreciation in price, with more investors recognizing its worth. Moreover, the coin is the preferred choice for the marijuana industry, which is also on the rise.

Conclusion

Unlile other crypto coins such as BitShares, Cardano, Dent and many other, DASH ranks as the six largest cryptocurrency in terms of total market capitalization at this moment. It has shown considerable resilience, and rarely been out the Top 10 Cryptocurrencies club since it hit the scenes three years ago. Masternode operators and improved governance mechanism have had a positive impact on its long-term agility. As the coin matures, there is plenty of scopes for it to establish its own market. Instead of picking an outright winner, it is important for the investors to look for the right fundamentals that make a cryptocurrency thrive and succeed. On this parameter, DASH has all that it takes to sustain, grow, and innovate.

The DASH ecosystem is designed to benefit everyone equally and proportionally according to the contributions made and risks are taken. There are no privileges or loopholes. This is complemented by a full node voting mechanism. The company has envisioned a future for transparent, verifiable, and unbreakable contribution by the stakeholders to achieve the common goal of decentralized governance by blockchain. The developers have also envisioned a sustainable and decentralized cryptocurrency network to bring added value service to the investors, which is built to outlive its original users.

DASH Core DAO Management Team

Ryan Taylor: CEO

Andy Freer: CTO

UDJINM6: Lead Developer

Holger Schinzel: Quality Assurance, Automation and Testing

Philipp Engelhorn: Press and Multi-tool

Fernando Gutierrez: Multi-tool

Robert Wiecko: Project Manager

Evan Duffield: Strategy Advisor

Developers

Kelly Kopp-Schuetz: Human Resources Director

Brandley Zaztarow: Business Development

Nathan Marley: Lead Evolution Developer

Crowning: Core Development and Testing

Chae-Pil Lim: Core Development

Chuck Williams: Head of UI and UX Development, and many more

Testing and Development

Moocowmoo: Support and Testing

Alexandre Devilliers: Testing and Development

Ivan Borovkov: Network Operations

Jeff Smith: Network Operations

Leon White: Documentation and Wiki

Kira Bronskaia: Quality Assurance, Automation and Testing, and many more

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